


The Lance Effect

by Headphone_Love



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Awkward Keith (Voltron), Feelings Realization, Homesick Lance (Voltron), Hunk (Voltron) is a Good Friend, Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, M/M, Oblivious Keith (Voltron), Oblivious Lance (Voltron), Pidge is a cranky smol bean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2019-06-15 07:28:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15408012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Headphone_Love/pseuds/Headphone_Love
Summary: Defined by Lance as his ability to be irresistibly charming while socializingDefined by Keith as Lance’s amazing ability to avoid talking about how he really feels.Defined by Pidge as a start to the inevitable.





	The Lance Effect

**Author's Note:**

> A snippet I wrote while taking a break from requests. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy~
> 
> ~HxL

With the way Lance’s leg was bouncing as he messed around on his tablet, Keith was positive something was up with him.

Ever since they had arrived on this planet—one scarily similar to Earth—Lance had been even more outspoken than usual. It was like Lance had completely forgotten they were fighting an intergalactic space war for the week they were there. Keith hadn’t thought much of it, chalking it up to typical Lance style, but when Allura had announced that they’d need to head out in the next few days, it was like a switch. 

Lance became clumsy. 

Well, clumsier than usual. 

He’d go off walking on his own without telling anyone, and when he’d return, he’d make jokes about blending with the locals. 

_ I seriously doubt that a human boy gained any attention from aliens twice his height. _

_ Are you denying my skills, dear Pidge? _

Keith had to admit, Lance was good at distracting people from questioning him. He wasn’t sure if it was because Lance had a large family or what, but he could work his way around almost anything. Even Keith tried to pry why he was acting strangely out of him several times, but that just resulted in them arguing and nearly killing each other on the way back to their respective rooms that the people of the planet had gracefully given them. 

If they’d been forced back onto the ship, Keith was sure he would have pestered Lance about it even more. 

No matter what, they  _ all _ had to be rested so that when they left they could be prepared for anything. Lance usually was the one to remind him of that, so why was he being difficult? 

“Hey,” Keith muttered, Lance jumping in his seat and snapping his head towards him. This just made Keith more suspicious “What’s up with you lately?”

Lance blinked a few times, lips parting as he let out a tiny laugh. “That again? I already told you I’m fine.”

“If you were fine you wouldn’t have walked into two walls on the way here tonight.”

“W—I did not!”  Lance denied, though Keith wondered if Lance’s voice was always capable of going that high. “I’m totally chill. Like super chill. Chiller than…” he trailed off, eyes moving towards the ceiling as he thought. “Chiller than the  _ chilliest  _ of people. Not that you’d know what chill was.” 

“Really convincing,” Keith said dryly as frowned, but Lance didn’t say anything except return to his tablet.

Keith crossed his arms. No second comment about winning or one upping him. 

Something was  _ definitely _ wrong. 

“If you’re going to keep bringing up weird things you can leave,” Lance muttered.

“Yeah?” Keith challenged, sitting up from his position on his Lance’s bed and stretching his limbs. “Fine. You didn’t run into any walls. But is there any reason why you forgot to give Mini Blue her head scratchies again tonight?” 

Tensing, Lance looked around to see his pup—or at least, what  _ looked _ like an Earth pup—that he had claimed as his on their first day here. 

_ Look at him! He’s practically begging me with those eyes! _

_ That’s a female, blue paladin. _

_ Even more reason to make sure she’s not alone! _

“Oh, my poor baby!” Lance whispered to himself as he immediately dove toward her, scratching her head and under her chin. He even gave a few belly rubs as an extra apology, knowing how fast they put her to sleep. “I’m a  _ monster _ .”

“No, you’re  _ tired _ ,” Keith emphasized as he moved to stand. “Which is why you should get some sleep,” he finished, holding a hand out to get Lance off the ground. 

Lance surprisingly accepted the help, Keith noticing that he was able to pull his fellow paladin into a standing position far too easily He had never been able to just pull Lance up like that, especially considering how Lance would rather pull him down in a ‘surprise attack’ then lose his weird pride. 

“I’m good...I took a nap earlier today,” Lance assured, pulling Keith from his thoughts. Lance let the other’s hand go without even so much as a comment about his gloves, turning and moving back to the tablet. “Plus, even if I try now, I won’t get any sleep. So I’ll stay up and rest once we’re gone I’ll….”

“ _ Lance _ .” 

Letting out an exasperated breath, Lance looked up at him again. “What.  _ Keith _ ?”

Keith’s frown only deepened. “You should know better than I do that we don’t know what exactly could happen once we get off this planet,” he tried to reason. “All the more reason to be prepared for anything. That includes needing to be well rested incase we’re needed.”

Lance watched him, the stubborness in his eyes easily visible. Keith wondered when he of all people became the voice of reason.

Even so, this wasn’t going anywhere. Maybe this was a time to be more blunt? He had been trying to be more careful with his words...but Lance wouldn’t get what he was saying unless he just came out with it, which meant that being upfront would be a faster….

“Stop staring at me like you want to kill me!” Lance shrieked, as Keith’s eyes went wide. 

“What?! I wasn’t!” Keith shouted back, too flustered to care about the volume of his voice.

While he knew he had a tendency to look like death when he thought too hard, he hadn’t meant to glare at Lance. He just wanted to help, but even that was hard considering how long they have known each other. 

Sometimes, Keith was surprisingly good at comforting and calming Lance down….but that was only when he knew what the root of the problem was. In this case, Lance seemed overly nervous for no reason, as evident from his leg bouncing a mile a minute and his dolphin mating call. 

“Just tell me what’s wrong,” Keith spoke once he had calmed, Lance’s turning in his chair and crossing his arms. 

“What’s wrong, mullet, is that you keep looking at me like I killed your first born child.”

“I already  _ told _ you, I hadn’t  _ meant _ to look at you like t—”

A slamming on the wall made both of them jump, attention directed to where the sound had come from. 

“Sorry, Pidge!” Lance called, a lighter knocking sound signifying she had heard. With a deep breath out, Lance hunched over his knees, elbows resting against them. 

Keith had forgotten they weren’t in their own rooms and that these walls were actually relatively thin. He turned back to stare at Lance who was staring at the floor with half lidded eyes. 

If Keith hadn’t been sure that Lance was tired before, he could definitely tell now. “You’re so weird, you know that?” 

“Says the weird one…” Lance grumbled, ruffling his hair and shutting his eyes. “And I’m fine. I’ve just been...thinking…” he admitted, Keith whistling. 

“You know that never ends up well.”

Lance let out a squawk of disbelief, Keith raising a brow at him. 

“Did mullet just  _ burn _ me?!”

Keith only grew more confused, looking over Lance for injury. “I didn’t touch you?” 

Lance nearly snorted, shaking his head as the ghost of a smile formed on his lips.. “A~nd he’s back.”

Giving up, Keith plopped back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling as the room delved into silence. “Look,” he started, not knowing whether he had Lance’s attention but continuing anyway. “If something is messing with you, I just want to try and help, alright? You’re usually all annoying and arrogant but right now....” 

Silence filled the room, Keith tempted to take a peek at the fellow paladin before he heard Lance sigh.

“It….it’s silly,” Lance finally spoke, looking down at his lap and swallowing hard. Keith didn’t speak at the risk of making Lance stop.

Letting out a deep breath, Lance chuckled and shook his head weakly. “God damnit mullet, why can’t you just let things go?” 

“Because if I let it go it’ll come back to bite you in the ass.”

Lance went quiet again. “I’ll get over it.”

“Well, it’s already too late anyway.  I want to know now. My interest is piqued,” Keith insisted. 

Lance puffed his cheeks. “Curiosity killed the cat, you know.” 

“And satisfaction brought it back. So stop fighting me and explain.” 

“Since when do  _ you  _ know proverbs?” 

At the sound of a door slamming open, the two paladins jumped, looking over to see Pidge, hair dishevelled and eyes half open. She looked less than pleased, crossing her arms and taking in a deep breath. 

“You know,” Pidge began with a soft laugh, shaking her head. 

Lance and Keith watched, swallowing hard. Soft laughs from Pidge were a sure sign of impending doom.

“It’s been a pretty long day…” Pidge began, ruffling her hair and moving to lean against the door frame. “People are usually, you know,  _ sleeping _ , after a pretty long day. Do you want to know why  _ this _ savior of the universe isn’t sleeping after a pretty long day?” she demanded, thumbs pointing to herself.

Lance and Keith side eyed each other for a moment, the blue paladin raising his hand slowly as if in a classroom. 

“ _ Yes _ , loud person number one!” Pidge called, brown eyes flickering dangerously. 

“Why does he—” Keith began, but a look from Pidge made him shut up. 

“Go on, loud person number one.”

Lance kept his hand in the air, his opposite hand holding his elbow as he spoke. “Because these saviors of the universe won’t shut up?” he mumbled, pointing to Keith and himself with his thumb.

Keith snorted. “Suck up.” 

“Hey!” 

“ Hey!’ is right!” Pidge snapped, stomping into the room and shoving Keith away from Lance to grab the taller male by the shirt. She began to shake him, Lance trying his best to escape the grip, but at that Pidge just tightened it. “Shiro told us all specifically to get to  _ bed _ . And yet here you are, shouting as if no one can hear you, and keeping  _ me _ awake. Do you know how I get when I don’t get enough rest, Lance? You should considering that at the Garrison I nearly choked you out not once, but  _ twice _ . So do me a favor, and stop arguing with your on again off again not-boyfriend over there or so help me…!” 

Keith was glad he wasn’t on the other end of that rage, standing and shaking his head.  “We aren’t—!” 

Another body came rushing through the door, Keith backing away while Pidge was lifted into the air by none other than their trusty yellow paladin. 

Lance took in a breath of air, a whine of relief leaving his lips. He blinked for a few moments before he nearly let out a laugh of relief. “Hunk, buddy! You saved me!” 

“Yeah, well,” Hunk said with a equally tired smile. “Try not to get that rowdy again. I kinda agree with crouching tiger, hidden Pidge, here.” 

“Will do, bud. Sorry about that.”

Nodding, Hunk took the rampaging Pidge towards her room, shutting the door behind himself quietly. 

The two paladins remaining paladins sat without a word, sneaking glances at each other until their eyes met. Lance smiled awkwardly, Keith just nodding his head in acknowledgement. 

“So...do you really want to know where I’ve been going?” 

Keith perked. “Obviously.” 

“Alright. Put your shoes on.” 

“Wait..what?” 

Lance grinned, already moving to grab his jacket and shoes. “You’re the one that wanted to know so bad, Mullet. No take backsies.”

* * *

 

“Lance, I swear if this is a prank…”

“It isn’t. Shut up and follow me.” 

Keith sighed, but for once, did as told, They had been walking for at least 20 minutes by this point, having entered something that looked like a forest. He had seen a lot of grasslands on this planet, it shocking him considering that he’d only seen desert for most of his life. That and space, but obviously there weren’t any trees just floating around. 

“If you get us lost…”

“God, Keith, just trust me for once, will ya?” 

Keith frowned. “I always trust you.” 

His words came out a lot softer than intended, but it seemed to have the desired effect of calming the tension in Lance’s shoulders. Lance didn’t say anything, however, just continuing to lead them for another half hour until the ground began to get weirdly soft. 

It almost reminded Keith of….

_ Sand _ . 

Keith paused, looking around at the ground. It looked like dirt but had the consistency of sand, which was unnerving. “Hey Lance, you sure this is…”

“Safe? Definitely. I’ve been coming here since the second day we landed. I even asked Coran for his weird scanner thingy to double check.”

They continued moving forward, but this time it was only a few minutes until they reached a clearing, Lance grinning as he turned to Keith. “Behold, my home away from home.”

Oh, Keith was beholding. At  _ water _ . Not just water, but a freaking ocean. 

“You managed to find an ocean on a planet we’ve never been to?” 

“It’s easy when you pretend it’s Earth,” Lance replied, watching as the waves rippled, crashing into the dark sand. For all Keith knew, it could be just that, but he’d always learned from Coran to be wary of things that were familiar or too similar. He’d fallen for illusions far too many times to not be at least somewhat skeptical. 

“You really miss Earth, huh?” Keith said once he’d finished his inner monologue. 

Lance’s smile dimmed slightly. “Yeah. A little.” 

A pause. 

“Actually, a lot. Like a lot, a lot. So much is just kind of stings whenever I think about it,” Lance blurted, eyes downcast. 

“You know,” Keith began with a side glance. “It’s alright to miss your family,” he said awkwardly. He couldn’t really relate as much as probably Hunk or Pidge, even Allura considering what she had been through. Either way, though, he could imagine how hard it must be to be separated from people who were cared about deeply. 

“It’s not the missing them that makes me feel weird, though,” Lance admitted, stepping closer to the water as Keith followed. When Lance moved to sit, pulling his knees to his chest, Keith sat beside him with his legs crossed. 

“Weird meaning sad?” 

“Weird meaning weird,” Lance warned, eyes flickering at Keith in warning. 

“It’s alright to…”

“Stop saying that it’s alright. I know it isn’t bad but it doesn’t make it easier to admit, alright?”

“.....”

“ _ What _ ?” Lance demanded as Keith pointed a gloved finger at him. 

“You said alright at the end of that…”

Looking irritated for a moment, Lance deflated after a few seconds and let out a small laugh, looking away. “You’re impossible,” he said under his breath. 

“It made you laugh, didn’t it?” 

“It did, even though you’re the one that irritated me to begin with,” Lance said with a grin. “I’ll accept that as your apology.”

Keith rolled his eyes and crossed his arms as he stared out at the water, the colors seeming to change to match the way the sky looked. The sky here was blue during the day like Earth, but instead of plunging into darkness at night, it changed into a combination of deep purples and pinks. It made the water look almost mystical. 

“The reason I’ve been so antsy is because this place has had me on edge since we got here,” Lance admitted as the waves crashed once again, nearly touching his sneakers. 

“I thought you’d be ecstatic to have a place so similar to home.”

“If there is anything worse than not being able to go back, it’s finding a place that reminds me of that,” Lance muttered, resting his chin against his knees. “It reminds me that my family…” he hesitated, swallowing hard. “I left them, man. I left them and they have no idea where I am or if I’m okay.”

Keith shifted, so he was hugging his knees to his chest as well. He rested his cheek against them, staring at Lance as he spoke. He figured it was best for him to let it all out at once rather than doing it conversation style. 

“I used to have to tell my abuelita where I was almost every hour because of how worried she was about me. She would always tell my mother that I would go off and get into some trouble. Whenever she said it, though, she’d be smiling as if knowing it was just how I was. Even when I went to the Garrison I called her at least three times a week and now I don’t know if I’ll even ever get a chance to thank her for that.” 

Lance shut his eyes, and Keith wondered what he was imagining whenever he did. 

“Even if I can’t ever permanently stay there, I just want them to know I’m alive, at least. I want them to know I’m not alone or dead in deep space somewhere.”

Keith nodded. He understood that clearly, mainly because when Shiro had disappeared, Keith had nearly gone frantic wondering what had happened. He couldn’t imagine how Lance’s family felt at the moment.

“I’m sure they know you’re still around. A world without Lance seems impossible,” Keith said with a half smile. “Besides. If there is anything I learned about from you about your mother, her intuition is never wrong.”

Perking at the mention of his mother, Lance eyed Keith with a certain curiosity that made his heart seem to stop. 

“You remember me talking about her?” Lance whispered with a slight grin. “I haven’t talked about her for ages.” 

Keith shrugged, turning his gaze to look back at the water. “Well, she’s too similar to you to not remember.” 

“So I’m memorable?”

“Don’t ruin the moment,” Keith said with a slight glare as Lance’s grin grew wider. 

“What moment? This was a moment?” 

“If you forget this one too I swear to…”

“Keith?” 

The sound of his name silenced him immediately, Lance watching him closely. 

“What?” Keith finally replied, wondering where the sudden heaviness in the air came from. He could feel the air practically leaving his lungs at Lance’s next words considering he’d never expected to hear them come in such a sincere form. 

“Thank you.”

* * *

 

“Shiro~” Lance whined, the other dragging him by his shirt. “I get that we were late but people are staring!” he complained, struggling to keep up with the leader's pace.

“I told you to get some sleep, and you didn’t listen so now you have to suck it up,” Pidge’s voice said from behind him, the blue paladin scrunching his nose. 

“Betrayal, Pidgeon. I’m telling Coran.”

“He'll agree with me,” Pidge said confidently. 

Keith just watched as they bickered, his jacket in Shiro’s other hand. He knew better than to fight it, not caring much about stares and too tired to try and even begin debating with Shiro. He did, however, shoot Lance a look that was mixed between ‘I blame you’ and ‘Are you alright’, which made Lance stop talking for just a brief second.

A small smile formed on the other’s lips. Lance added a playful wink for good measure, Keith wondering how the action that had once caused him great frustration now made him want to laugh. It was amazing how much he had begun to expect Lance to be beside him, both in and out of battle. He respected him and cared a lot about him more than he'd ever admit aloud.  

It was almost like...

He sucked in a breath, looking away as he raised a hand to his chest to feel his heartbeat against his palm.

Oh no. 


End file.
